Ghost Story
by Little Spitfire
Summary: After buying a house and somehow coming into guardianship of Riku, Yuki and Shuichi settle down for their happily ever after. Sound good right? But sometimes the past can haunt you quite literally.
1. Chapter 1

Ghost Story  
By Little Spitfire  
Disclaimer: The _Gravitation_ universe and all recognizable characters do not belong to me.

* * *

The house was beautiful. Two stories; just outside the city—close enough for Shuichi to commute to work every morning, but far enough away from the hustle and bustle for both him and Eiri to feel comfortable letting Riku ride his bike in the street. If Eiri had been told years ago that this would be his life some day—settling down with another man, taking the role of guardian to the son of the man he killed—and that he'd be content—happy—with it—he would have laughed in their face and then found a random woman in a bar to take home.

It had been fine in the beginning. They'd settled in easily, unpacking all their belongings without incident. They'd set up Riku's room first, the bigger of the three extra bedrooms and next to the hallway bathroom, and let him pick which color they'd paint the walls before moving in his furniture and toys and clothes.

They'd then unpacked all their belongings into the master bedroom that had its own washroom connected off to the side. Shuichi had beamed at him all day and Eiri couldn't help but smirk a bit back at him. This was _their_ bedroom. _Theirs._ The house had both their names on the deed, a decision that had caused him to have panic attacks while discussing his feelings in his therapy sessions before coming to the realization that it was what he wanted and all he had to do was stop holding himself from being happy.

Surprisingly to Eiri, the only incident that happened the entire moving in process was when Shuichi insisted on helping him set up his office, made from one of the other extra bedroom (the third one, right on the other side of the hallway bathroom, was made into a mini studio for Shuichi), across the hall from Riku's, and carefully placed all the books on the bookshelf. He must have bumped into the towering shelf as he turned—even though he swore his didn't—and a shower of books buried him, leaving a rather painful looking bruise under one side of his ribs.

Eiri had dug him out of the pile and was ready to berate him for his clumsiness when he saw the pained expression on his lover's face and the way he was gripping his side. Instead, he'd sat him down on the couch in the newly furnished living room and got an ice pack for him to place on his injured ribs. The next day, Eiri even took him to the doctor's, amid many a squealed "Yuki loves me!"'s when he saw how dark the bruise was, asking Tatsuha to watch Riku for a few hours.

Shuichi ended up being told that it was just a bad bruise and would heal after some time and that he would just have to take it easy for a while. A bandage was wrapped around his torso and he was sent home with orders to ice it and a prescription for some painkillers.

The two men had returned home to a quiet Riku and a slightly nervous looking younger Uesugi brother. When asked what his problem was, he just shook his head, said he'd see them later and left. Eiri and Shuichi had looked at each other puzzled and shrugged—Tatsuha had always been a little strange—and forgot about it.

That was when things began to get a little weird.

* * *

It had started out with small things. Objects disappearing when looked for then reappearing several hours later in plain sight. Doors being found open when they were most certainly closed the last time looked at—and vise versa. Things that could have, and were, written off to forgetfulness and absent mindedness.

It would have been okay if it didn't get worse.

* * *

"You need to stop moving so much when you sleep, kid." Eiri muttered as he cleaned the small scratch that made its way down Riku's arm. "This is the fourth time in the past two weeks."

Riku was silent, staring up at him in a way that made Eiri think he wanted to say something but wasn't sure how.

"Something wrong?" the writer asked.

Hesitation and then Riku shook his head. Eiri stared at him levelly before shrugging and putting away the first aid kit. There was definitely something bothering him. But if the kid didn't want to talk then he wouldn't make him.

He wondered if it had been Shuichi who had asked, would Riku have answered? Where Eiri was able to calm Riku down more when upset, Shuichi was more likely to get Riku to talk about what was bothering him. Unfortunately, Shuichi was away on a tour. It was to last for a month and he wasn't due to return home until the end of the week. Though Eiri was reluctant to admit it aloud, he didn't quite like quiet of the house with out the pop star there.

* * *

When Eiri tucked Riku into bed that night, the child seemed more clingy than usual, asking for drinks of water and bathroom trips until Eiri had declared it enough and turned off the light before heading to his and Shuichi's bedroom for the night. As he lie in bed listening to the house settle gently, his mind kept going back to Riku's sleeping habits. When had he started moving so much in his sleep that he ended up hurting himself—even if the scratches were barely there? Eiri couldn't remember it ever happening before recently. Sighing he hoped it was just a phase or something the kid would grow out of quickly.

He frowned when he heard footsteps in the hallway and got out of bed to go tell Riku to go back to sleep.

"I thought I told you—" he stopped, however, when he reached the child's room and saw that Riku was fast asleep. Brows furrowed, he stepped into Riku's room and studied his face, looking for signs that he was awake and pretending so as not to get in trouble.

Riku's face was lax with sleep. There was no way he was awake. The kid wasn't that good of an actor, and Eiri realized he must have been mistaken. As if sensing he was being watched, Riku's face scrunched slightly (Eiri would never admit the word "cute" came to mind), before his body tensed up and his eyes snapped open. Seeing Eiri standing in the doorway, he relaxed before sitting up, rubbing his eye while meeting Eiri's gaze.

"Daddy?" Riku's small voice was barely audible, but Eiri heard it and frowned at the under current of fear he detected.

Looking at the small boy, he came to a decision and nodded slightly to himself. Riku was frightened of something and he probably wasn't going to get any sleep tonight anyway. Better have the kid close by to keep an eye on him. "Well, you coming or not?"

Riku looked at him for a moment before understanding dawned on him and he jumped up and followed Eiri out of his room, down the hallway and into his parents' bed.

Eiri waited for Riku to get comfortable, snuggling into Shuichi's pillow before getting in himself and settling down for the night.

* * *

Eiri hadn't realized he'd fallen asleep until he woke up. Eyes bleary, he glanced down at Riku, who had shifted over to press his small body into his side at some point that night. It was then that he realized the small frame was shaking and he reached over to nudge the boy into consciousness.

To his surprise, Riku was not having a nightmare, but was wide awake—and freezing cold.

"Hey—" he cut himself off as Riku turned to look at him, eyes wide.

"Daddy." The little boy whispered and a shot of annoyance shot through Eiri.

"Don't call me that."

"Daddy." Riku's voice quivered and Eiri looked at him in surprise. Riku was not normally emotional and rarely ever cried. He was more prone to very quiet sulks.

Some strange paternal instinct came over him and Eiri carefully wrapped his arms around the little boy. "It's okay." He hushed. "Let's get you in a hot bath. That'll warm you up. Come on, kid."

He picked the still shaking boy up and proceeded to carry him to the bathroom. They were halfway down the hallway when they heard the front door swing open and a tired voice mutter, "I'm home."

Standing at the top of the stairs, Eiri looked down at the foyer where Shuichi stood next to his suitcase, toeing off his shoes. "You're home early. You weren't due back for another two days."

Shuichi smiled wearily at Eiri. "K got us earlier plane tickets home. Said we could use the extra time off."

"Hmm. Go change while I help Riku with the bath and then I'll make you something to eat."

Shuichi smiled again and began carrying his suitcase up to their bedroom.

* * *

endchapterone.

Notes: Thoughts, comments, questions, constructive criticism are all welcome. =)

Warning: There will be a slight crossover with another fandom in this story later. (Is that even a warning?)


	2. Chapter 2

Ghost Story  
By Little Spitfire  
Disclaimer: The _Gravitation_ universe and all recognizable characters do not belong to me.

* * *

After Riku was warmed and clean, Eiri threw together something tasty for Shuichi while Riku played on the floor in the living room with a puzzle his "Mama" had brought home for him.

Shuichi had noticed the shallow scratches on Riku and immediately questioned Eiri about them. Eiri explained that he'd been scratching himself in his sleep and paused before adding that something seemed to be bothering him. Shuichi promised to talk to Riku, knowing that though Eiri had appeared aloof while discussing it, he wouldn't have said anything if he wasn't a bit worried.

Later that evening, Eiri and Shuichi napped on the couch for a while until Eiri woke up, realized he'd slept for longer than he planned to and carefully extracted himself from Shuichi's tangled legs, trying not to bump into his obviously healed but still tender ribs.

"Where are you going, Yuki?" Shuichi asked as said man stood up and began walking towards the stairs.

"I need to get some work done." Eiri answered and made his way toward his study.

Shuichi nodded and called to him, "Don't stay up all night."

The sound of the study door closing answered him. Shuichi rolled his eyes and looked back at Riku, gesturing to the toys strewn about on the floor. "How about we clean this up and order some take out?"

Riku nodded solemnly and began helping Shuichi place his toys back into their proper places.

They both started when a door upstairs slammed closed. Shuichi shrugged and went back to clearing the floor when they heard it again. And then again.

"Yuki?" Shuichi called. "You okay?"

Just as they heard, "Dammit, Shuichi! Stop slamming the damn doors!"

Riku and Shuichi stared at each other before the singer walked over to the bottom of the stairs and saw Eiri passing by the top of the stairs, walking towards their bedroom.

"Yuki?" he called, and after a spell, "Eiri?"

Not hearing an answer, he walked up the stairs and down the hall to their bedroom. A look inside and a quick glance in the adjoining washroom told him that no one was there. Frowning, he turned around to go back towards Eiri's study and almost walked into Riku, who seemed to have followed him.

Eiri's study's door was closed and Shuichi hesitated for just a moment before turning the knob and entering, Riku at his heels.

Eiri was sitting at his desk typing, and he glanced up when they entered.

"What?" he grunted at Shuichi's confused look.

"Why were you slamming the door? Are you angry or something?" Shuichi asked.

"What are you talking about?"

"…You weren't?"

"Why would I be slamming doors? Did you do something that I should be angry about?"

"No! But… Didn't you hear—"

"I haven't heard anything. If you break—"

"But I didn't. I was downstairs and we heard—and then you yelled—and—Wait! How did you get back here without me seeing you?"

"What?"

"You went into the bedroom—"

Eiri's eye twitched. "Brat, I don't have time for these games right now. I need to finish this tonight so I can stay on schedule."

"But—"

Seeing the real confusion in Shuichi's eyes, Eiri sighed. "I've been in this room the whole time since I came upstairs."

Frowning, the writer studied his lover's face before transferring his gaze to the child clutching his shirt and hiding slightly behind his legs. Riku was staring at the wall next to Eiri, unblinking. Looking over, he saw nothing there and huffed in exasperation.

"Shuichi. You probably just thought you heard something. Now get out so I can finish this before midnight."

* * *

It so happened that it was after midnight when Eiri decided he'd done enough for the day and made his way to the bathroom to take a quick shower before joining Shuichi in bed. After stripping, he began brushing his teeth when he realized the shower water was running. Funny. He didn't remember turning it on.

"Must be more tired than I thought." He muttered, turning the water back off and finishing brushing his teeth. As he was spitting, he heard the water go back on. Annoyed, he turned around to yell at Shuichi for messing with him and saw that no one was there. Poking his head into the bedroom, he saw Shuichi was dead asleep.

He was about to go looking for the brat when he saw Riku's tousled hair peeking out from under the covers next to Shuichi. He was deeply asleep as well.

Not knowing what to make of it, Eiri rationalized that the handles must have slipped or something, allowing the water to slip through. That thought firmly in mind, he quickly took his shower, pulled on a pair of boxers and slipped into bed.

He awoke three hours later to the sound of running water.

* * *

endchaptertwo.

Notes: Thoughts, comments, questions, constructive criticism are all welcome. =)

Warning: There will be a slight crossover with another fandom in this story later. (Is that even a warning?)


	3. Chapter 3

Ghost Story  
By Little Spitfire  
Disclaimer: The _Gravitation_ universe and all recognizable characters do not belong to me.

* * *

The next morning, Shuichi awoke to the sound of Eiri talking to some one on the phone. Turning his head to press his face into his lover's leg, he lightly dozed while listening to Eiri's side of the conversation.

"That's the stupidest thing you've ever said, Tatsuha." Eiri growled into the receiver.

At the angry tone, Shuichi woke up a bit.

"No. You can't honestly believe that can you? … I'm not even going to discuss that possibility with you—No. We don't ever talk about that.—_No_. This conversation is over. Good bye."

Eiri hung up and picked up his pack of cigarettes from the end table before growling in frustration and tossing them back down. Shuichi smiled a bit at that; he'd finally gotten Eiri to promise not to smoke in the house when Riku had moved in. He was glad to see the grumpy writer was keeping his word.

Before Eiri could swing his legs off the bed to go smoke outside, Shuichi moved closer placing a soothing hand on his thigh. Eiri's eyes swung to his and he froze, staring at his face.

"What did you do to yourself, you idiot?" he asked.

"What are you talking about?" Shuichi asked, surprised at the sharp tone.

"Your face." Eiri murmured. "What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything."

Shuichi became even more confused when Eiri reached out to cup his cheek and felt a slight sting.

He moved out of bed and into the bathroom to look in the mirror. When he saw his reflection, he didn't know what to think. Three long cuts ran across his right cheek in an eerie imitation of whiskers. It looked as if someone had taken a swipe at his face and scratched him with their nails. He saw Eiri enter the bathroom through the mirror and stiffened in anticipation when his eyes widened and locked onto his back.

Twisting to see in the mirror, he saw three more shallow scratches down the length of his spine.

"What the hell…?" he whispered. "Did we have a fist fight while I was sleeping?"

"Those weren't there when I came to bed last night." Eiri said trying not to think about the conversation he'd just had with his brother. "What were you lying on?"

Shuichi stared at him. "The same thing you were, Yuki."

Eiri wordlessly took out the first aid kit and began patching Shuichi up. When he was done, Shuichi twisted his arms behind his back at strange angles. "There's no way I could have done this while I was asleep. I can't reach that far."

Eiri said nothing, though he had been thinking the same thing. Just then, Riku decided to poke his head into the bathroom and join them. That was when Eiri noticed that the scratches that had been adorning the child's arms weren't there anymore. They had vanished, as if they had never been there at all. Not that that wasn't a good thing—but, it should have taken more than a day for them to heal.

Looking over, he saw that Shuichi seemed to have noticed the same thing, and then realized that there were unshed tears in Riku's eyes.

"Mama." He murmured and tucked himself close to Eiri's legs, clutching his pants. "Don't go."

"Riku, baby, I'm not going anywhere." Shuichi kneeled down to be at Riku's eye level and pulled him into a warm embrace. Slowly Riku started to relax, but then suddenly tensed up, staring at the wall over Shuichi's shoulder.

A door in the hallway start to slam open and closed repeatedly.

* * *

Meanwhile, a certain Prince of the Underworld shuffled through the mountain of paperwork on his desk, signing his name and stamping either his approval or disapproval here and there. He paused when he came to one document and quirked an eyebrow.

"Well, that certainly is unusual."

Reading further, he hummed lowly before coming to a decision. Usually the Spirit Realm wouldn't bother wasting their resources on something like this, but he had a feeling it could escalate if not stopped soon.

"George!" he called. "Get in here!"

* * *

Eiri watched Shuichi out of the corner of his eye while attempting to write. Unfortunately for him, it was impossible to do so while his lover was carrying on the way he currently was.

"Yuki, the house is haunted." Shuichi wailed for the twentieth time. "It has to be."

"Shuichi. The house can't haunted." Eiri said, ignoring how weak his voice sounded to even his own ears.

"—And it wants to kill me! Whatever ghost is here wants me _gone_! You heard what Riku said!"

"It's not going to hurt you."

At that, Shuichi stopped and stared at Eiri hard.

"Yuki." He breathed. "Eiri. Look at my face."

Eiri's eyes traveled to the pronounced scratches on Shuichi's cheek before moving back to his eyes, and saw the fear set deep in his gaze. He moved slightly and Shuichi took it as an invitation, crawling into his lap.

"Shuichi, I'm not going to let it get you."

Shuichi's eyes teared with emotion at the loving expression Eiri directed towards him, and then practically melted when Eiri leaned down to kiss his forehead—one of the most effective ways to get Shuichi to do what he wanted.

"Now. Go put Riku to bed and I'll join you in an hour or so."

Shuichi nodded and left the room floating.

Their house could not be haunted. There had to be some logical explanation for everything. But the more he thought about it, the more his thoughts wandered to the scratches on Shuichi's face and Riku's strange behavior and what Tatsuha had said he'd seen, and the more he felt uncomfortable about the whole ordeal.

* * *

Eiri stared at the wall and breathed deeply trying not to panic. Closing his eyes and fighting against the urge to freak out, he slowly backed out of the room. Once in the hallway, he opened his eyes and exhaled. Gathering his courage, he peeked around the door frame into the kitchen again and saw that _it_ was still there.

Alone in the hallway of his supposed-to-be empty house, Eiri screamed.

* * *

That day, Shuichi came home to the sight of Eiri and Tatsuha dressed in monk's robes performing a blessing on the house. When asked why, Eiri refused to talk about it, telling Shuichi to mind his own damn business and to go pick Riku up from school.

As Shuichi left, he met Tatsuha's gaze and saw some lingering worry.

* * *

Apparently Eiri had seen something and refused to say what it was. Shuichi knew he'd seen whatever was haunting the house. The thing that concerned him was the fact that Eiri didn't seem scared of whatever it was. He seemed—well—_haunted_. A dark look was always present in his eyes now and Shuichi sensed a conflicted, almost _empty _vibe from the writer.

The pop star was beginning to get a hunch of what was going on, and prayed to whatever deities were listening that he was wrong.

* * *

Eiri stared at his laptop's screen. He was trying to proof read what he has written so far, but was unable to concentrate on the words for more than thirty seconds. The study door opened softly and his gaze shot over to it. Riku poked his head in before walking over to Eiri and making himself comfortable in his lap.

He murmured something Eiri couldn't make out.

Eiri frowned and looked into Riku's eyes. "You've seen him, too." It wasn't a question.

Riku just nodded slowly.

* * *

Shuichi stood at the intersection waiting for the crosswalk to change. He rubbed at his cheek tiredly. Rehearsal had run later than normal today and he'd told Eiri he'd pick up some dinner on his way home. His fingers lightly trailed over his face where he was sure he'd have a scar, but was pleasantly surprised that the skin had healed unmarred.

Since Eiri and Tatsuha's sudden blessing, there had been no other incidents. Still, Shuichi felt a sense of foreboding. As if something was just waiting, biding its time.

Readjusting his grip on the take away bags, Shuichi eyed the person standing next to him out of the corner of his eye, noting the way the stranger was staring at him.

Shuichi was about to ask the man if he knew him when the stranger suddenly shouted, "Hey!"

Immediately Shuichi felt two things. One—He abruptly felt himself being shoved into the busy intersection and—two—right after, felt the stranger grab onto his shirt and pull him back just before he was hit by an oncoming car.

The singer fell to the ground, panting as adrenaline rushed through him. He stared up at the man with wide eyes. "What the hell just happened?"

They had been standing on the corner alone.

It was then that Shuichi realized that the man was not looking at him, but rather at the empty space next to him.

The man looked over at Shuichi and the singer took in his appearance. He had curly orange-ish red hair, wore a blue school uniform, and looked kinda thuggish. Shuichi realized he had to have been a student. A very tall student.

"Who are you ...?"

The kid stared down at Shuichi with a look of fierce curiosity before asking a question of his own.

"Who is Yuki Kitazawa and why does he hate you so much?

* * *

Endchapterthree

Narrator: And the slight crossover is here. Who is this mystery man and what show is he from? Why did the author include him and whatever will he be able to do to help? The answers next time in Little Spitfire's _Ghost Story_.

Notes: Thoughts, comments, questions, constructive criticism are all welcome. =)


End file.
